If you credit God with the good things that happen to you, then do you blame him for the bad things

[raccoon]

that happen to you?


“Good” thing: You were desperate for a job, and just happened to apply somewhere you ordinarily wouldn’t have, or talked to somebody who just happened to need someone with your skill set, etc.,….and voila, you had a job!

“Bad” thing: On the other hand, you were jogging/walking, and just happened to encounter a stranger who mugged you.
(Maybe I shouldn’t have put quotes there, who’d think getting mugged was a good thing?)

If God made things work out with the job, then who made things work out with the mugging?

If you hadn’t just happened to apply at XYZ Company (you didn’t think they needed your skill set), or just happened to talk to John Doe, who needed your skill set…

On the other hand, if you hadn’t gone jogging/walking, if you’d gone a different route, if a group of several people had just happened to be walking very close by…

It drives me nuts. You can't have it both ways.

I keep coming back to this. I hear stuff like the crediting of good things to God, not just in church settings, but also in 12-step groups, and in RL as well.

[rfranklin]

1. It's your own fault when bad things happen....

You didn't pray enough.

You are not worthy.

You should burn in Hell.

[brooklynite]

2. To me, it's more a matter of preferential treatment...

He helped YOU get a job, but didn't cure your next-door neighbor's cancer.

[Drale]

3. I don't understand why people believe God gets involved in their lives

God has an entire universe to explore and do stuff in, I doubt he has time to deal with your problems.

[vi5]

4. I have this argument with my parents....

My parents are devout catholics. They are liberal and they are compassionate and they are very, very good people. But they do believe strongly in their faith and prayer and all of that. I'm an atheist and they know this. I always have been.

I also have a very sick 5 year old son who has been in and out of hospitals and had dozens of operations and everything else. My experience with him has hardened my lack of belief. A sample conversation we often have....

"Oh, Dylan (my son) has been through so much....God bless him".

Me: Yeah, well it's quite obvious that didn't happen.

"Oh that's not true. He blessed him with loving parents and a great support system and a family with enough resources for good medical care."

Me: Oh....so does that mean that the 6 month old who was next door to him in the hospital who had nobody there with him for the whole week he was there wasn't blessed? Does that mean God hates him? Because I'm not sure how you can say what he did was "bless" Dylan without then believing that he cursed or chose not to bless that other kid. What about the families we've seen who can't bring their kids home because they can't afford the level of home care they need? God didn't see fit to bless them? Maybe we should talk about the kids who died and who didn't make it through what Dylan is going through.....blessed? Not blessed? What does God think of them?


It's my main problem with the whole thing. I don't have that argument with anyone who says they are praying for my son or blessing us or whatever. I know they mean well and do not want to be a jerk about it. Buy my relationship with my parents is open and honest enough that we can have that discussion. Of course it usually ends abruptly when I call them on the inconsistencies of it all.

[jdlh8894]

5. G O D

Good Organized Decisions

[damntexdem]

6. Actually, I think that most people tend to blame someone else for the bad, take credit for the good.

But, yeah, it drives me crazy when someone claims a "miracle" when one person is saved amid a horrid tragedy involving multiple deaths.

[MatthewStLouis]

7. Maybe you blame the devil for bad things...

I am an agnostic, but I don't take the viewpoint of crediting God with only good things as having it both ways... You can think of God as Lady Luck. When she's with you, things are great. When "Mr. Bad Luck" comes along, things aren't great. I guess you could call that; ascribing bad things to the devil. Of course, that essentially makes your life guided by probability instead of by a guiding hand. So, if there is a God, he/she may have started things, but sure isn't around any more.

I'm not sure how fundamentalists look at this. I suppose they credit God for everything good and the devil for everything bad. With one caveat, where God decides to punish someone. I wonder how they distinguish punishment from the devils work?

[Old Codger]

8. LOL

I am constantly amazed to see people in a disaster area being interviewed and stating they "thank god" for sparing them, completely ignoring the fact that if they truthfully believe he is all powerful then obviously he caused the disaster to start with.

[Gin]

10. I believe we are gods....we are the ones who created whatever

we are experiencing....having said that..

when things happen I don't like...I sometimes blame everyone including god :) but then I settle down and rethink things.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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[William769]

9. Speaking of the crusades.

:eyes:

[Warpy]

11. Oh, please, that's why the devil was invented

to get god off the hook for all the bad stuff that happens.

[edhopper]

12. God seems to

have no problem with serial killers. Let's them go about there carnage.

[ZombieHorde]

13. I would love to see sports stars blame god for loses the way they credit him for wins.

That would be so funny.

[frebrd]

14. Thank you! That's something I have never understood.....

It just baffles me completely!

It's totally illogical.

[Nihil]

16. Why not?

If you are prepared to say "Thank you" after a good event
then why not "F*ck you" after a bad one?

:shrug:

[AlecBGreen]

17. here is my personal opinion as a Christian

I give thanks for it all, the good and the bad. Some things are easier to give thanks for, and some are quite hard, but I believe everything that happens to me in this life can be for good if I choose to make it so. If I am ever stricken with a painful, debilitating disease, I hope I will have the strength and courage to make the best of it and not let it turn me bitter. I have met some amazing people in my life who did just this, and they were awe-inspiring.

[frogmarch]

18. Blessings in disguise

When God allows or makes bad things happen to us, he is either 1) punishing us for something we did wrong 2) teaching us valuable life lessons that will help us open the door to good things in the future, or 3) protecting us from a bad thing that is disguised as a good thing Ex.: getting a great job with a company whose headquarters will burn down with us in it.

That’s how my Christian family members spin it, anyway. Bad things are really blessings in disguise.